The dynamic nature of the cloud means that change is a constant when it comes to modern cloud-based infrastructure. Delivering modern applications to end users, therefore, is a constantly shifting challenge. Delivery automation helps IT Ops teams ensure that apps are providing an optimal end user experience over hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud environments, no matter what the current state of the infrastructure is. To employ a delivery automation strategy that reflects your business rules, making real-time decisions based on a combination of real user monitoring, synthetic testing, APM, NGINX / local load balancers, and other data sources, is critical.
Rackspace and HPE team up for pay as you go OpenStack private cloud
When your correspondent wrote last week, to open the news that Google was becoming Salesforce’s preferred cloud provider, ‘meet the cloud’s newest strategic partners’, it was always going to be a short-lived title.
And so it has proved: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Rackspace have announced a partnership to offer what is claimed as the industry’s first pay as you go OpenStack private cloud.
The pay as you go pricing model will leverage HPE’s Flexible Capacity infrastructure service, with savings of 40% or more compared to leading public cloud vendors according to Rackspace internal pricing analysis. Aside from the pricing, other key features of the combined offering include instant scalability, enterprise-grade security, and managed services expertise.
Rackspace has been focusing many of its efforts on bolstering this expertise of late. The company acquired managed service provider Datapipe in September in what it called the ‘biggest acquisition by far’ in its history.
“With this innovative delivery model, Rackspace and HPE are removing the barriers to private cloud adoption, giving customers even more choice of technology platforms that best fit their application needs,” said Scott Crenshaw, Rackspace executive vice president of private cloud in a statement. “We are proud to partner with HPE to continue enabling customer success with private clouds.”
Michelle Bailey, group vice president at IDC Research, added: “The OpenStack Private Cloud offering from Rackspace and HPE specifically addresses organisations’ needs to provide security and performance benefits, the cornerstone of a private cloud environment.
“With Rackspace’s private cloud expertise and service-first culture, they are well positioned to address the needs of HPE’s large installed base of infrastructure customers and help reduce any cloud migration risk. This pay-per-use infrastructure is a new step forward in helping enterprises deploy private clouds with improved flexibility and cost transparency.”
The service will become generally available in all regions on November 28, with the two companies adding they plan to extend this model to Rackspace’s entire managed private cloud portfolio, including VMware and Microsoft Azure.
IBM ramps up quantum computing ecosystem with 20 qubit processor systems
IBM has been solidly building its efforts in quantum computing over the past couple of years – and a new milestone has been reached with the launch of upgraded systems featuring 20 qubit processors, with 50 qubits on the way.
The company describes the latest news as “rapid advances in quantum hardware… as IBM continues to drive progress across the entire quantum computing technology stack, with focus on systems, software, applications and enablement.”
Quantum computing is gaining prominence as a significantly more powerful alternative to classical computing. The latter is based around bits which can only exist in 1 and 0 states, while the former, built on the principles of quantum mechanics, aims to take advantage of subatomic particles existing in more than one state at any time. A qubit is the quantum equivalent of the classical bit.
The idea therefore is that in this state, algorithms can be run and conclusions drawn which current computing methods simply cannot comprehend; ‘we expect them to open doors that we once thought would remain locked indefinitely’, as IBM itself puts it.
One issue in this is the concept of coherence, the amount of time machines can exist in this quantum state before reverting to their classical equivalents. Today, the maximum time available to researchers is 90 microseconds; not a huge amount one would normally think, but this does represent serious progress from even the past couple of years.
As this publication noted 18 months ago when IBM launched its five qubit quantum processor, the company stated that medium-sized quantum processors of 50-100 qubits will be possible ‘in the next decade.’
IBM added that the 50 qubit processor had been built and measured, adding that it will be made available in the next generation IBM Q systems, though not specifying a date.
“The ability to reliably operate several working quantum systems and putting them online was not possible just a few years ago. Now, we can scale IBM processors up to 50 qubits due to tremendous feats of science and engineering,” said Dario Gil, vice president of AI and IBM Q at IBM Research.
“These latest advances show that we are quickly making quantum systems and tools available that could offer an advantage for tackling problems outside the realm of classical machines,” Gil added.
You can find out more about the announcement here.
Read more: Why IBM believes quantum computing is the next big cloud hit after AI and blockchain
More Super quantum processors coming your way
Imagine how cool it’ll be if you got to work on super computers and super processors.. You’ll be able to do at least twice the amount of work in half the time that you’re using right now.
Well, this could be a reality as companies are looking to offer their supercomputers and super processors as a cloud service.
Leading the way is IBM that has decided to offer its 20-qubit quantum computer as a cloud service. This could be available as soon as the end of this year. The power of quantum computers can be accessed through an open-source platform like QISKit.
Such a cloud-based service is expected to be a big hit because businesses can now leverage huge computing powers without ever having to invest a ton of money in hardware or infrastructure. To give you an example, businesses will be able to process quantum algorithms in 90 microseconds through this quantum computing service.
And that’s not all. IBM is working on a 50-qubit quantum computer that it hopes to be available as a service by next year. Its engineers and data scientists are constantly working on adding qubits and converting the same into a service that will benefit businesses and even the society at large.
It’s not a surprise that IBM is leading the way in quantum computing as a service as the company has always been at the forefront of technological innovation. Other companies are expected to come up with such supercomputing and super-processing services soon. Within the next few years, these super processors will be more ubiquitous for businesses and individuals.
What remains to be seen is how these computers are used by different businesses, research organizations or even individuals to create path-breaking applications.
The post More Super quantum processors coming your way appeared first on Cloud News Daily.
CFP for @DevOpsSummit NY Opens | #CloudNative #DevOps #Serverless #Kubernetes
DevOps at Cloud Expo – being held June 5-7, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York, NY – announces that its Call for Papers is open. Born out of proven success in agile development, cloud computing, and process automation, DevOps is a macro trend you cannot afford to miss. From showcase success stories from early adopters and web-scale businesses, DevOps is expanding to organizations of all sizes, including the world’s largest enterprises – and delivering real results. Among the proven benefits, DevOps is correlated with 20% faster time-to-market, 22% improvement in quality, and 18% reduction in dev and ops costs, according to research firm Vanson-Bourne. It is changing the way IT works, how businesses interact with customers, and how organizations are buying, building, and delivering software.
How to Sponsor @DevOpsSummit 2018 | #CloudNative #Serverless #DevOps #Docker #Kubernetes
@DevOpsSummit at Cloud Expo, taking place June 5-7, 2018, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, is co-located with 22nd Cloud Expo | 1st DXWorld Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.
The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long development cycles that produce software that is obsolete at launch. DevOps may be disruptive, but it is essential.
[slides] Are Your Business Apps Cloud-Ready? | @CloudExpo @CASTHighlight #DX #API #Cloud
The “Digital Era” is forcing us to engage with new methods to build, operate and maintain applications. This transformation also implies an evolution to more and more intelligent applications to better engage with the customers, while creating significant market differentiators.
In both cases, the cloud has become a key enabler to embrace this digital revolution. So, moving to the cloud is no longer the question; the new questions are HOW and WHEN. To make this equation even more complex, most of the time we are dealing with complex portfolios, many including hundreds of legacy applications.
Avoiding Compliance Risk with Better Access Management | @CloudExpo #Cloud #Security #Compliance
Networks have become large, complex entities that are increasingly difficult to manage and control. Security, audit, risk and compliance professionals know that their organizations rely on them for effective risk management, control and governance processes that are essential to the safety of their network environment. Yet compliance and security are more challenging than ever before as additional layers are added to this environment.
One of the challenges lies in the fact that there is an ongoing, huge access gap in network security and compliance – and it has been residing within the environment for more than 20 years. This tool, known as the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, grants privileged access to all types of production environments.
Cloud Migration Requires a New Look at Change Management | @CloudExpo #DevOps #CloudNative
Some journey to cloud on a mission, others, a deadline. Change management is useful when migrating to public, private or hybrid cloud environments in either case. For most, stakeholder engagement peaks during the planning and post migration phases of a project.
Legacy engagements are fairly direct: projects follow a linear progression of activities (the “waterfall” approach) – change managers and application coders work from the same functional and technical requirements. Enablement and development mirror one another, progressing from proof-of-concept planning to final product delivery. Exceptions, if any, become change requests.
[slides] A Well-Behaved Network | @CloudExpo @Infoblox #SDN #SDS #SDDC
As you move to the cloud, your network should be efficient, secure, and easy to manage. An enterprise adopting a hybrid or public cloud needs systems and tools that provide:
Agility: ability to deliver applications and services faster, even in complex hybrid environments
Easier manageability: enable reliable connectivity with complete oversight as the data center network evolves
Greater efficiency: eliminate wasted effort while reducing errors and optimize asset utilization
Security: implement always-vigilant DNS security